Champ Trail -
February 23, 2016 |
The Modified action at New Smyrna finally got the green on Tuesday night
with the Joe Brady Memorial 50 lapper. Ron Silk took the lead from Ryan
Preece with four laps to go after Preece’s car developed handling problems.
Preece, who had led since lap six, finished second with JR Bertuccio, third.
Chuck Hossfeld finished fourth with Justin Bonsignore, fifth.
Tuesday night at New Smyrna saw Eric Goodale in victory lane at the
conclusion of the John Blewett III Memorial 76 lapper. Ryan Preece continued
to be a bridesmaid as he finished second. From the 26th lap Goodale was in
control of the field. Justin Bonsignore finished third with Jimmy Zacharias
and Chuck Hossfeld completing the top five.
The third time was a charm for Ryan Preece as he won the 35 lap Tour type
Modified feature at New Smyrna on Thursday night. Preece blew away Ron Silk
on lap 8 and never looked back. Justin Bonsignore finished second. JR
Bertuccio finished third with Eric Goodale and newcomer Etienne Cliché
rounding out the top five.
At the Daytona International Speedway on Thursday night, races for
qualifying spots were held under the lights. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the
first Can-Am Duel 150 followed by Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick
and Casey Kahne. Kyle Busch won the 2nd Can-Am Duel. Jamie McMurray finished
2nd followed by Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards and Ty Dillon.
In the Modified Series finale Richie Evans 100 Ryan Preece reigned
supreme as he put his Eddie Partridge #6 in victory lane. Preece’s effort
was not without incident. With the closing moments in sight, Preece almost
lost the lead because of a lapped car. Eric Goodale, who was second at the
time, couldn’t muster the energy to get by and had to second at the checker.
JR Bertuccio, Jimmy Zacharias and Justin Bonsignore rounded out the top
five. The RE 100 win solidified his second straight Tour-Type Modified
championship at New Smyrna Speedway.
Second generation driver Chase Elliott Saturday’s won the Powershares QQQ
300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway. Joey
Logano finished second with Kasey Kahne, third. Elliott Sadler and Austin
Dillon rounded out the top five. Ryan Preece finished 40th after being
involved in a lap five accident.
Denny Hamlin won the closest Daytona 500 ever when he went to the outside
in turn three on the final lap to pass teammate Matt Kenseth. The Joe Gibbs
Racing driver then drove side-by-side with Martin Truex, Jr. across the
starting finish line edging Truex by 0.010-of-a-second – less than one foot.
Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota powered the driver to victory in his 11th attempt.
Defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Kyle Busch finished third in a Toyota
with 2007 Daytona 500 winner Kevin Harvick fourth in a Chevrolet. Carl
Edwards was the third JGR Toyota in the top five.
The Tour type Modifieds were not part of the final night of racing at New
Smyrna. The ninth and final night of the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car
Racing kicked off with two 35-lap races featuring the Florida Modifieds and
the Pro Late Models, which was controlled by California’s Derek Thorn from
start to finish. It was the second win of the 2016 World Series for Thorn,
but the first since the second night of racing. His first victory, exactly
one week previous, left Thorn eager to come up with another before the week
was up.
The Florida Modifieds also concluded their championship on night nine
with Cody Stickler clinching the championship with an initial second-place
finish, but was later promoted to his fourth win of the week after Josh Todd
was disqualified for a post-race technical infraction with his shock
absorbers.
On a sad note, Bruce Cohen reminds us that it's been 47 years since Don
MacTavish passed away at Daytona.
On the speedway stock market scene last week all three speedway stocks
ended the week on a positive note. The International Speedway Corporation
led the way as they went up 1.86 to 34.49. Speedway Motorsports went up 0.51
to 18.53 and Dover Entertainment went up 0.16 to 2.17. NASCAR fuel supplier
Sunoco (Energy Transfer) went up 5.28 to 28.94 and NASCAR cup sponsor Sprint
went up 0.27 to 2.93 while NASCAR tire supplier Goodyear dropped 0.08 to
29.61. The car manufacturers were all green for the week. Leading the way
was General Motors, which went up 1.07 to 28.78. Ford went up 0.55 to 12.10
and Toyoya went up 0.05 to 105.31. In the home improvement sector, Home
Depot went up 5.37 to 121.69 and Lowes went up 3.65 to 68.52. In big team
sponsors stocks, McDonalds dropped 1.20 to 116.53, Coca-Cola went up 14.62
to 177.00, Target went up 2.37 to 72.32, Aarons Rentals dropped 0.05 to
22.03 and Fedex went up 1.16 to 129.76.
On the tube this week:
Thursday, February 25
2:00 AM, NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1
7:00 AM, NASCAR America, NBC Sports Net
5:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
5:00 PM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
Friday, February 26
2:00 AM, NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
7:00 AM, NASCAR America, NBCSN
9:00 AM, NXS Atlanta practice, FS1
10:00 AM, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Atlanta practice, FS1
11:00 AM, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Atlanta practice, FS1
12:30 PM, NASCAR Xfinity Series Atlanta practice, FS1
1:30 PM, NCWTS Atlanta practice, FS1
2:30 PM, NXS Atlanta final practice, FS1
4:00 PM, NCWTS Atlanta final practice, FS1
5:30 PM, NSCS Atlanta qualifying, FS1
Saturday, February 27
4:00 AM, NSCS Atlanta practice re-air, FS1
5:30 AM, NSCS Atlanta qualifying re-air, FS1
7:00 AM, The 10 - Earnhardt Moments, FS1
8:30 AM, NXS Atlanta qualifying, FS1
10:00 AM, NCWTS Atlanta qualifying, FS1
11:30 AM, NSCS Atlanta final practice, FS1
1:00 PM, NXS RaceDay, FS1
1:30 PM, NXS Atlanta race, FS1
4:00 PM, NCWTS SetUp, FS1
4:30 PM, NCWTS Atlanta race, FS1
6:30 PM, 100,000 Cameras: Daytona 500, FS1
Sunday, February 28
11:00 AM, NASCAR RaceDay, FS1
1:00 PM, NSCS Atlanta race, FOX
That’s about it for this week from 11 Gardner Drive, Westerly, and
R.I.02891. Ring my chimes at 401-596-5467.
E-mail:
smithpe_97_97@yahoo.com.
Phil Smith has been a
columnist for Speedway Scene and various
other publications for over 3 decades.
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Source: Phil
Smith / Champ Trail
Posted: February
23, 2016 |
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